Downton 2, Alton Town 2

Alton travelled to Downton on Saturday and despite not playing particularly well and once again having players unavailable, increased their run of unbeaten games to five.

The game was scrappy from start to finish and the game was not helped by a swirling wind.

With the wind at their backs in the first half, Downton started the stronger of the two teams and it soon became apparent that the long ball game was their way, but chances were few and far between as the wind was winning the battle with football.

Matt Petts collected the first real shot from Matt Steer, and from his clearance Matt Bunyan set up Ryan Thomas but he shot wide. Callum Burch then played a through ball that was too long for Bunyan before Downton took the lead. Louis Rendall picked the ball up in the midfield and ran on a few yards before shooting into the top corner.

Alton replied and a fine run by Max Smith ended when he was fouled on the edge of the box, a foul that earned the offender a yellow card. Unfortunalty for Alton, Steve Black’s free kick hit the wall and was cleared away to safety by the Downton defence.

The Brewers then had a glorious chance to equalise when Liam Knight raced down the wing, his cross was taken down by Burch whose shot was deflected onto the bar by Gunstone in the Downton goal. The rebound fell to Bunyan whose shot was blocked and Black fired the follow up wide.

But Alton didn’t have long to wait and equalised when a free kick into the area was handled by a defender. After discussing it with his with his assistant, the referee decided the offence was just outside the box, but it didn’t matter as Bunyan curled his free kick into the bottom corner to draw Alton level.

With the wind at their backs, Alton bega the second half well with Bunyan heading over and Smith having a shot blocked.

But Downton weren’t just lying down and Petts had to be alert to save from McGregor before five minutes of madness saw the referee take center stage. An innocuous-looking foul on Knight, which warranted a yellow card at most, resulted in a straight red for Downton’s Nathan Stott. This was followed by a yellow card for Alton’s Adkins for a foul.

With Alton now up against 10 men they took the game to Downton without creating any clearcut chances and it was somewhat against the run of play that Downton regained the lead. A ball over the top wasn’t dealt with by the Alton defence and allowed Rendall to shoot past Petts for his second of the game.

With their noses in front Downton started to frustrate Alton, and they should have gone further ahead when Telfor beat the offside trap but shot wide when well placed.

At the other end, a fine through ball from Smith found Bunyan but the Downton keeper saved with his legs while Burch thought he had equalised but was pulled back by the linesman’s flag.

The equaliser wasn’t long in coming, though, as substitute Matt Brown got to the byline and his pull back was headed home by Bunyan to bring the scores level.

Alton pressed for the winner and were almost caught out twice but Petts was alert to save well both times.

With Downton running down the clock Adkins was adjudged to have committed another foul which the referee decided warranted another yellow card and he was dismissed as both teams finished the game with 10 men. Petts was then forced into another save before the referee brought the game to a close.

A point each was probably all either side deserved as both sides huffed and puffed without really dominating the game.

On Saturday, Alton face a tough away game in Division One of the Sydenhams Wessex League against third-placed Amesbury Town (kick-off 3pm).